


Textbook

by aderyn_merch



Series: Holidays in the Fandoms [5]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 14:26:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17143436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aderyn_merch/pseuds/aderyn_merch
Summary: Ronan gives the best gifts. But he has an unfair advantage.





	Textbook

Ronan woke up. It was Christmas. Before his father’s death that would mean presents and pancakes. He’d wake up early and try to sneak down the stairs to glimpse the tree, but Aurora always caught him and sent him scurrying back into the upstairs hall. He’d go wake up Declan, and when that didn’t work, Matthew. The two of them would wait at the top of the stairs, feet cold on the wood floor, impatient to be called down for breakfast.   
Christmas now was different. Last year he’d spent it at Monmouth more or less alone, except for the dreary church service he’d attended. This year he was not alone. Nor did it matter that he was the first one up.   
Carefully, Ronan slid out of bed, taking the book on his chest with him. Adam went on sleeping, strung out on the stress of college. He’d come back for break and immediately gotten a cold that even Ronan’s dream medicine couldn’t instantly shake. It meant that the other boy was spending a lot of time napping, and the number of kisses was despairingly low. But it increased the amount of time spent snuggling in front of the TV.   
The floor was as cold as it always was as Ronan made his way downstairs. He set the book on the kitchen table and started pulling out the ingredients for pancakes. The sound of hooves on tiles marked the entrance of Opal. She was too tired to be quiet. She reached out to pick up the book, interested in another dream item, but Ronan snatched it back. “This isn’t yours. Don’t eat it.” He set it back on the counter. “Do you want to get out the griddle?”  
It was the tea-kettle that woke Adam up. It whistled in harmony. He wandered into the kitchen looking soft in the lighting and sat down heavily at the kitchen table. “Does it smell good?” he asked, voice strange from his cold.   
“I didn’t burn anything if that’s what you’re asking,” Ronan said. He poured a mug of tea for Adam. The lemon kind his mom had sworn by when he was sick and tiny. “Here,” he set the mug down and then pushed the book towards Adam, “and here.”  
Adam picked it up. The cover was plain leather dyed the same color as the edge of the sky on sunny spring days. There was no title, although the spine was two inches thick.   
“It’s blank,” Adam said.  
Reaching over, Ronan closed the book again. “What textbook did you need for this semester?”  
“Intro to Anthropology, but it’s–“  
“Open the book, Parrish.”   
Adam opened the book again. He flipped through the pages. “It’s–“  
“You kept complaining how expensive they are.”  
Adam stopped turning pages to study a diagram. “Does it do this for any book?”  
“Any textbook you need.”  
Adam closed the book again, paused, and opened it again. The book now had chapters on state and federal law. “This is–wait. What will I tell my roommate when he asks about this?”  
Ronan shrugged. “You’ll think of something.”   
Adam nodded. He closed the book again and opened it to another diagram of something complex. His hand strayed over to close around the handle of the mug Ronan had given him. It was several seconds before he looked up, and he was smiling. “Thank you.”  
Ronan turned back to the pancakes. They weren’t burning yet. “Merry Fucking Christmas.”


End file.
